Kat's Struggle
by kelladry of Mindelan of T
Summary: Kat has never known anything but abuse. She runs away to Tortall. As a servant in the Palace, she befriends Nobles and servants alike. But will her new friends be enough when Maggot's daughter comes after her for something she didn't even know she had?
1. prologue

**Inside the Heart: Katriana's struggle**

Disclaimer: All of TP's wonderful amazing fabulous characters are not mine. All of the Characters that are mine, though, are hers for the taking is she wants them.

Prologue

Katriana Johninski, better known as Kat, pushed herself up off the dusty floor of her parents' inn, panting. The next slap sent her sprawling again. She took her time getting up this time; her hands were clenched into fists. As soon as she was half way to her feet, another blow came, this time to her belly. She doubled over, gasping.

Kat was fairly tall; her skin turned brown from hours of labor in the sun. Her dark brown hair cascaded to the middle of her back, covering the two large welts on her cheeks. Her eyes, the blue of a peaceful sea, shone over a small nose, high cheekbones, and full lips. Her pretty features were clenched in hate. She couldn't take any more. She wouldn't. After tonight's beating was over, she would leave. Forever. 

A kick came, directed to her ribs. She windmilled, but fell backwards anyway; hitting the floor with an audible thump. From her new vantage point, Kat could see four pairs of eyes staring out at her from behind the table. She could see why little Lizzy stood there, terrified. After all, she was only four years old. But what excuse did Dantis have? He was eighteen, yet did nothing to help his sister when their parents beat her up, night after night after night. 

Regaining her balance, Kat stumbled out of the room. A million thoughts roared through her head, competing only with a buzzing in her ears. _It wasn't fair! Why did her parents treat her like this? What had she done to deserve it?_ She pounded angrily on the floor on the way to her room. From below she could hear the muffled noise of tonight's guests rising through the floorboards; eating, drinking, and talking — _yelling more like It, _she thought. _It was a full house. With all the guests, how did he have time to even get drunk? _She wondered_ then again, he always finds time to get drunk._

Reaching her small room on the first floor, Kat slammed the door. She immediately fell on the bed and began to sob. He cheeks were smarting, although long experience told her they would be fine by morning. Her real problem was her stomach. Every time she took a breath, it felt like her ribs were breaking open. Reaching out with her small gift, Kat realized that two of her ribs were cracked. She was able to stop the pain, but did not have enough of a gift to heal them completely. Sitting up, Katriana began to make her plans to run away.


	2. Running away sorry it's so short

****

Chapter one: Runaway

Kat glanced over her shoulder into the dark night, glad to finally be on her way. She had no idea where she was going, but she figured anywhere was better than where she had come from. Her plans for the future were scanty. Mainly they consisted of: going to a city, and maybe finding some work as a servant or such. All Kat knew was there was no way she would sell herself. She would starve first. 

Kat had been walking for a few hours, but with her cracked ribs each mile seemed to take forever. She was further from home than she had ever been in her life. The girl's heart was beating fast, with excitement or fear, she couldn't tell. All she had to her name were the clothes on her back, a little food, a blanket, and a tinder-stone. Not much to start a new life with. Nevertheless, Kat was determined. She would find a way, she knew she would. 

The road was muddy after last night's thunder, making walking even harder. Kat's pace got slower with every step, until she had to admit, even to herself, that it was time to stop. A pale light was already glimmering over the treetops; signaling dawn was not too far off. Exhausted, Kat stumbled over to the side of the road, were she fell to the ground. She barely had the strength to pull her blanket out of her knapsack before she fell asleep. In her state of exhaustion, she forgot the first rule of the road: either build a magical circle or hide yourself off the road. She would learn.

Sorry for the short chapter. Read on


	3. bandits

**__**

Sorry for Lizzy/Lizzie will change soon. Enjoy!

The morning light streaming through thee trees woke a tired Kat. Still half asleep, she reached up to brush her eyes. Or tried to. Instantly all her senses were awake — why couldn't she move her arms? She was in the same place she had made camp in before, but something was different. Sitting up, she realized she couldn't move her legs either. Both her hands and feet were tied. She tried to stand up, but fell down on her back. Kat heard the sounds of people approaching. She smelt rarely washed humans.

"Ah look, the princess is waking up! It's about time." The comment had come from an extremely tall man, or, as Kat thought, a very small giant. He had a long beard and cold, hard eyes. Kat lay there, terrified. What should she do? Her mother would curse the air blue, and her father would struggle madly against the bonds, trying to swing at his captures. Dantis would combine both of his parents' ways. Kat decided none of these would help her. What would Lizzy do? She would play sweet and adorable until they eased her bonds, certain that a little cutie like her wouldn't run away. Then she would prove them wrong. Albeit she was the youngest, Lizzy's way seemed the most likely to help Kat. 

So Kat did not struggle, but instead managed to politely say "Good morning."

Her attempt at diplomacy was met with resounding guffaws from the five bandits. Nevertheless, Kat would not be put off that easily. 

"Did Daniel grant you a good night?"

More laughter this time accompanied by a sharp kick of her rib. Kat yowled as it hit her cracked ribs. 

Kat gave up and lay in a ball around her ribs, scowling at her captors. "Dat one'll make a good bed-warmer there." Remarked another of the bandits, another monster. 

"Yea, if she doesn't kill em from laughing first!" replied the first one. Leering in so his face was a scant inch from hers, he grunted "You feel that collar around your neck? If you try to run away, that'll choke you. And don't get any fancy notions of taking it off, either. _That_ will result in burning." Kat shuddered, still smelling the alcohol on his breath. She tried to curl up again, but one of them took hold of her hair and yanked Kat to her feet. "Not so fast. What makes you think you've got time to sleep? We've got to be going!"

"Odds Bobs! Do you expect me to travel until I die?"

"Basically" The bandit untied her feet while leaving her arms tied. He then proceeded to spank her on the butt "Go!" Kat remained solidly where she was, massaging her sore ankles. The bandit's face twisted up in contempt. I said, "Go!" he roared, kicking her in the but this time so hard she had no choice but to start walking, planning in her head.

If what that man — _No!_ She thought fiercely,_ he doesn't deserve that title! _If what that creature had said about the collar was true, she wouldn't be able to run away. Kat would have to take his word for it, at least for not, as her gift was still depleted from trying to heal herself the day before. _Was it only a day ago? _She pondered. _A day ago I was at the mercy of two oppressive tyrants — my parents. Now I am at the mercy of eight oppressive tyrants — Bandits_. Both gave her beatings.Kat had always heard the saying "**_Take the devil you know" _**But surely it was better to be going places, having adventures? But Kat knew she was only fooling herself. She was scared. Real scared. _A day on the road and not only do you manage to get yourself taken captive, but also you are scared, longing for familiar comforts. _There was nothing she could do about her first predicament, at least for not, but there was something she could do about the second. Kat vowed she would NOT long for home. Had a day softened her hatred of her abusive parents enough for her to want to crawl back to their painful rules? If it had, she hadn't had much hate to begin with. Kat knew she'd had a huge hatred to begin with, so she vowed she was better off now.

"Stop." Kat was jarred out of her thoughts by this harsh whisper, accompanied by an elbow from her new owners'. She obeyed the command, glancing around to find its source. She saw the small giant walking over to a hill where a girl not much older than Kat stood, her back turned to her silent audience. She was short and plump, with long strawberry blond hair and a fighters' stance. With a sudden epiphany, Kat realized the bandits were going to try to take this girl captive- just like Kat. Well, she couldn't let that happen. Taking a deep breath, Kat called out in warning, only to find her sound muffled by the entire hand of an unfamiliar bandit hastily shoved in her mouth to keep her quiet. 

Kat's noise was not loud, but it was enough to warn the unlucky girl. She whirled around, startled, to find herself confronted with the small giant. She screamed, panic flashing through her eyes. Behind her, there was great crashing in the underbrush. She hurriedly bent to pick up some rocks. Standing, she felt the tip of his dagger at her throat. Her eyes never left the tip of his knife. Suddenly the crashing behind them stopped as two men and another woman burst through the edge of the woods behind her, weapons drawn.

"I'd put own those dere epons If'I'er you. And n'udden moves. Or yer girl-iend ere ets it. Seems a hame tuh ha'a kill a beauty like'er when she cuda raise a de'ent price"

She let her rocks fall slowly, her eyes never leaving the point of the dagger. Her companion's eyes darted around in panic, looking for a way out. " I thought I made t'clear. Maybe I've'ta show you jack-asses again." He ran the dagger point down his hostage's throat, leaving a thing line of red. Her eyes were huge, and she couldn't help but let out a few whimpers. "Now'll you listen?" Meeting her eyes, the taller male, apparently the leader, looked down and slowly lowered his weapons. The shorter man and remaining girl followed suit. The hostage let out a small sigh of relief.

"Good choice. Ands ind yer back" All four promptly obeyed, and where all tied up just like Kat, who was still struggling with her own captor.

A small part of Kat was crying _Be like Lizzie!', _but her larger part won out, After all, Kat had tried to reason that morning and it hadn't worked. She bit down on the hand, hard, hearing a satisfactory crunch. The man pulled out, cursing. He took a practiced swing at Kat. She, with her arms still tied, fell over, unable to rise. He continued kicking her as if to get revenge while Kat tried desperately to stand. All of the other bandits watched the tying up of the new captives. When it finally ended, Kat lay there like a wounded puppy, sobbing like a newborn babe. Her parents must have given her worse beatings, but she couldn't recall them. Things started to sway, the everything went black.

**__**

Sorry for the Cleshe ending (S P ?) more coming soon. R&R!


	4. AN

Should Kat :  
  
escape and go to Tortall Escape and go to a different land Remain a prisoner  
  
Choice with the highest # of votes wins.  
  
Oh, yea, D: no more story. (Please don't choose D!) 


End file.
